Sunday, June 15, 2008

The Jawbone’s connected to…

I’ve been slightly frustrated with my Blackberry and Samsung cell phones of late. Lots more time on the road and trying to use them.

I never got a headset for my personal Samsung phone so in the car I’ve taken to clipping it to my seatbelt about shoulder high and using the speaker-phone. Works but is a bit awkward.

The Blackberry came with a corded Jabra C250 set. It has very good sound-quality but I keep getting tangled up in it in the car with my standard-shift. And, the cord just doesn’t work full time when I am in the field in a mess of wires or under a desk. Compounding my problems is that while the device is comfortable, the behind the ear wire is very thick and doesn’t work well when I am wearing my glasses (and especially the larger sunglasses I have). Usually within about ten minutes one or the other is falling off my head when used together.

So Saturday I walked out of the local AT&T store with a new Jawbone Bluetooth unit. As this was my first Bluetooth device I wasn’t completely sure what to expect.

I had consulted with the sales guy and it was one of three he recommended based on my desire for some noise-cancellation features. The others were a Jabra BT8040 and a Motorola PURE H12.

I went with the Jawbone not only for styling, but it seemed to be the one I recalled was highest rated in previous readings I had done.

It seems to have been a good decision.

I found that it came with a large selection of ear-loop pieces and inner-ear donuts to ensure a very nice fit. I went with the standard ear donut and the extra-large ear-loop. Some users say they don’t even use that as the ear-fit is so good. The nice leather loop I am using now works great with my glasses, but I might change to the wire-loop instead as it is a bit thinner and less likely to cause my wider sunglasses to fit less than ideal. The ear-donut fit is perfect. It fits comfortably but doesn’t seal off all the outside sound like an ear-plug so I still have pretty normal hearing sensitivity when it is not in use.

Sound quality is excellent and though the design takes a bit getting used to remembering all the secret taps that must be done to accept/place/reject/turn-on/turn-off the device, I think I will have them all down in a week. It comes with a USB/AC combo charger and little magnets must be in one of the devices as it snaps firmly into place on the charger.

Since I carry both the Blackberry and my personal Samsung phone at almost all times, I’m still not sure which one I should go with long-term.

For starters I quickly got Bluetooth enabled on my Samsung phone and in less than two minutes had it up and going perfectly.

I only wish I could pair the single headset with both of my devices. That would be perfect. Unfortunately, I don’t think I can do that.

If anyone knows for sure how I could, I would appreciate the advice.

During the workday I tend to get/place most of my wireless calls on the Blackberry. On the weekends it is my Samsung. I guess I could just swap out the pairing on that schedule manually but it is a bit of a drag. And I really don’t want to be nerdy and get a second one to place in the other ear.

Update 2: Yep works...kinda. I did get dual paring set up on the Samsung a727 and the Blackberry 8300 devices. However, it can only be connected (enabled) to one or the other at any given time. Good news is that once you do have your Jawbone device paired up this way, you can just select via the specific device's menu to deactivate the Jawbone connection. Then go to the other and activate it on that one. Not perfect but certainly doable in about a minute of phone device juggling.

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Why this? It is the simple blog of a Last Exile fan and is intended to express the enjoyment we derive from studio Gonzo's production. Although we closely relate with those characters, we aren't them in real life. We just want to keep the memory of these incredible young kids alive. So go buy Gonzo's Last Exile DVD's!